Union Budget: A Window of Opportunity for

Our Children? Budget for Children 2017-18

HAQ: Centre for Child Rights B1/2, Ground Floor, Malviya Nagar, New Delhi – 110017 Phone: 011-26673599, 26677412; Tel fax: 011-26674688

Website: http://www.haqcrc.org/ ; E-mail: info@haqcrc.org

Photo Credit: Meena Kadri

Introduction

“The budget is not just a collection of numbers, but an expression of our values and aspirations” and

the Union Budget 2017-18 once again gives us an opportunity to look at how the government of the

day looks at children and their development. Whether it is the overall allocation within the budget

or for specific sectors like health, development, education and protection, or flagship programmes,

do they cater to the needs of the future of our country.

As part of financial reforms to improve the country’s economic situation, the government has

made structural changes in this year’s budgeting exercise – the Plan and Non-Plan distinction have

been dispensed with and the budget has been classified under revenue and capital heads. The

Budget session of the Parliament was preponed and the Railway Budget has been subsumed in the

General Budget. The Statement 22, initiated in 2008, earmarking the allocation for the welfare of

children, has been renamed as Statement 12 in the Union Budget 2017-18.

The NDA government presented its fourth budget on 1st February 2017, putting forth its agenda of

“Transform, Energise and Clean India” – TEC India. It seeks to transform the quality of governance

and quality of life of our people; energise various sections of society, especially the youth and the

vulnerable; and clean the country from the evils of corruption.

India is home to 472 million children in the age group of 0-18 years constituting almost 39 per cent

of the nation’s population1 and yet they received a mere 3.32 per cent of the total financial

allocations in 2017-18. Although the government smartly shifted its responsibilities to finance social

sector schemes to the States in the wake of the 14th Finance Commission Recommendations, the

hurriedness with which these recommendations were introduced unfolded in raising serious

questions from all the corners. Along with experts, activist community and economists, States too

questioned this very step at various platforms.

The Devolution Saga…

The Statement 22 (a separate budget statement on children related scheme) of 2015-16 Union

Budget, explained “the heavy cuts towards children specific Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) on

account of enhanced devolution of Union Taxes to States as recommended by the Fourteenth

Finance Commission (FFC) and to keep the Budget for such programmes unchanged, States are to

contribute from their enhanced resources”2. The FFC recommended that share of the states in the

divisible pool of taxes should be increased to 42 per cent from 32 per cent.

While, in principle, the Devolution of Central taxes to States is an ideal arrangement, there are major

concerns - the States’ revenue is not going to increase multiple folds, the weaker States are not

equipped to generate resources on their own and it is feared that children related schemes would

not form core of the State agenda. Thus in order to fulfill the National Development Agenda, States

cannot be left on their own without significant support from the Central government.

In last year’s budget, the CSS, including schemes for children, received nine paisa out of a Rupee whereas the allocation this year is 10 paisa per Rupee. (http://www.indiabudget.nic.in/ub2017-18/bag/bag1.pdf)

1 Census 2011 2 Excerpts from Statement 22; Expenditure Budget Volume I 2015-16

The Global Context…

In the global scenario, the world has shifted

its focus from Millennium Development

Goals to Sustainable Development Goals

(SDGs) and India has agreed to be a part of it.

There are in total 17 goals prescribed under

SDGs and particularly, Goals 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5

need urgent attention in the present

context.

In this context, it is quite imperative to say

that the Government Budgets are the only

powerful tool to show their willingness to

reduce such inequalities and cutting out a clear map of achieving the SDGs. In the context of social

sector and particularly for children, the Union Budgets have disappointed the marginalized

community and the Union Budget 2017-18 further pushed its children to the periphery through

severely reduced allocations. This year too, the Union Budget has not given much hope to children

as the allocated resources do not match the current needs of children.

Key Highlights of Budget for Children 2017-18

Despite various national and international commitments and promises of inclusive growth,

children receive only Rs. 3.32 in the Union Budget 2017-18.

The share of children in the Union Budget 2017-18 has remained the same as 2016-17.

Education saw an increase of six per cent in absolute terms. Despite this increase to Rs.

50300.53 Crores in 2017-18, it has failed to reach the amount allocated for the

schemes/programmes in 2014-15 of Rs. 58544.42 Crores prior to devolution. Moreover it is a

concern that its share has fallen from 2.40 per cent to 2.34 per cent within the Union Budget.

Child Development has received a 13.32 per cent increase in allocation in 2017-18. As a share of

the Union Budget it has gone up from 0.77 per cent to 0.80 per cent.

Child protection received more attention with a 55 per cent increase from last year (2016-17).

Despite this, the share in the Union Budget has increased from a meager 0.03 per cent to 0.05

per cent.

ICPS, the flagship programme, received Rs. 648 Crores in 2017-18, an increase of 63 per cent

from last year’s Rs. 397 Crores (2016-17) and 61 per cent from 2015-16.

One of the flagship schemes to fulfill the nutritional needs of young children – ICDS, remains

under resourced with Rs. 15245.19 Crores allocation.

India’s overall public health expenditure is just 1.2 per cent of its GDP as against the WHO

standard of at least three per cent of GDP. Child health continues to have the same allocation as

Goal 1 End poverty in all its forms everywhere

Goal 2 End hunger; achieve food security and

improved nutrition, and promote

sustainable agriculture

Goal 3 Ensure healthy lives and promote well

being for all at all ages

Goal 4 Ensure inclusive and equitable quality

education and promote lifelong learning

opportunities for all

Goal 5 Achieve gender equality and empower all

women and girls

4.76 4.64 4.52

3.26 3.32 3.32

2012-2013 2013-2014 2014-2015 2015-2016 2016-2017 2017-2018

SHARE OF BFC IN UNION BUDGET (PER CENT)

last year, a meagre 0.12 per cent share in the Union Budget 2017-18. Although in absolute terms

there is an increase in 13.46 per cent.

There are heavy cuts in some of the key schemes/programmes:

Scheme/ Programme 2016-17 BE 2017-18 BE Percentage decrease

Pre-Matric Scholarships for SCs 495.00 45.00 91%

National Programme for Youth and Adolescent Development

35.00 18.00 49%

Upgradation of Merit of SCs Students 3.00 2.00 33%

Scheme for Welfare of Working Children in Need of Care and Protection

3.00 2.00 33%

Manufacture of Sera and BCG Vaccine 132.00 91.07 31%

World Bank Assisted ISSNIP 450.00 400.00 11%

Interestingly, many of the schemes/ programmes have shown substantial increase in allocations

compared to Union Budget 2016-17:

Scheme/ Programme 2016-17 BE 2017-18 BE Percentage increase

National Means Cum Merit Scholarship Scheme 35.00 282.00 706%

National Scheme for Incentive to Girl Child for Secondary Education 45.00 320.00 611%

Girls Hostel for SCs 4.00 15.00 275%

National Nutrition Mission 360.00 1100.00 206%

Beti Bachao Beti Padhao 100.00 200.00 100%

Integrated Child Protection Scheme 397.00 648.00 63%

Assistance to Voluntary Organisations for OBCs (Deptt. of SJ and E) 0.60 1.50 60%

In Statement 12, the overall allocation for children under the Department of Health and Family

Welfare has increased by 13.46 per cent.

The overall allocations for children related schemes/ programmes under the Department of

Social Justice and Empowerment has shown a decrease of 37.18 per cent – from Rs. 1017.05

Crores to Rs. 638.93 Crores.

Budget for Children 2017-18 in Detail…

3.32

96.68

Share of Children in Union Budget 2017-18 (Per Cent)

Share of BfC Share of Other than BfC

Children have received 3.32 per

cent resources of the total Union

budget in 2017-18. This remains

same as the allocation in the

Union Budget last year.

Despite the recognition of child

rights reflected in various

national as well as international

documents, the budget for

children has had inconsistent

financing over the years.

Government of India’s own

submission in its third and fourth combined periodic report to the United Nations Committee on the

Rights of the Child (UNCRC) has accepted that “many of the outcome indicators for children point to

the disadvantaged status of children; the proportion of Child Budget in the Union Budget seems

inadequate”.

This concern has been resonated by the concluding observations made by the UNCRC on 13 June

2014, based on India’s report presented to the Committee on 3 June 2014 in Geneva. “The

budgetary allocations do not adequately take into consideration child protection needs. There is also

mismanagement of allocated resources, a problem which is exacerbated by a high level of corruption

and the lack of effective monitoring and evaluation systems” says the Committee in its observations

on India3.

Share of BfC in Union Budget (in per cent)

Year BE RE

2013-2014 4.64 4.56

2014-2015 4.52 4.16

2015-2016 3.26 3.62

2016-2017 3.32 3.29

2017-2018 3.32 NA

A Glimpse of Sectoral Allocations in BfC 2017-18…

3 Full document available on

http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/SessionDetails1.aspx?SessionID=843&Lang=en

Sectoral Share in Union Budget (in per cent) Year Health BE Development BE Education BE Protection BE Other than BfC

2013-2014 0.16 1.10 3.34 0.03 95.36

2014-2015 0.16 1.06 3.26 0.04 95.49

2015-2016 0.13 0.51 2.57 0.05 96.74

2016-2017 0.12 0.77 2.40 0.03 96.68

2017-2018 0.12 0.80 2.34 0.05 96.68

0.12 0.80

2.34 0.05

96.68

Sectoral Share in Union Budget 2017-18 (Per Cent)

Health Development Education

Protection Other than BfC

3.76

24.21

70.54

1.49

Sectoral Share within BfC (Per Cent)

Health Development Education Protection

3.77

3.42 3.59

3.93 3.59

3.76

0.18 0.16 0.16 0.13 0.12 0.12

2012-2013 2013-2014 2014-2015 2015-2016 2016-2017 2017-2018

Share of Child Health (BE) in Union Budget and Within BfC (Per Cent)

Within BfC In Union Budget

Following the previous trends, despite almost 55 per cent increase in the child protection sector, it

remains heavily under resourced this year too. This must be seen in the context of the major

amendments in the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, the current allocations

are far away from meeting the requirements. Similarly, child health and child development remain

to be nominally resourced and their share in both Union budget and within BfC, do not indicate

towards major changes in the current scenario. (See graphs below)

Sectoral Share in Budget for Children (BfC) (in per cent)

Year Health BE Development BE Education BE Protection BE

2013-2014 3.42 23.79 72.07 0.72

2014-2015 3.59 23.36 72.21 0.78

2015-2016 3.93 15.74 78.95 1.38

2016-2017 3.59 23.23 72.14 1.04

2017-2018 3.76 24.21 70.54 1.49

SECTORAL ANALYSIS IN DETAIL

Child Health

In 2017-18, the share of child health stands to be a mere 0.12 per cent of the total Union Budget.

Although there has been an inconsistent trend in financing the health sector for children, with the

figures going up and down in the previous years, the needs of child health have remained

neglected, and this is visible even in the

2017-18 budget.

The Finance Minister in his speech

mentioned that an “action plan has been

prepared to reduce IMR from 39 in 2014 to

28 by 2019 and MMR from 167 in 2011-13

to 100 by 2018-2020. 1.5 lakh Health Sub

Centres will be transformed into Health and

Wellness Centres.”

26

73

.65

26

40

.47

29

14

.44

22

77

.94

23

59

.89

26

77

.55

22

87

.62

20

40

.90

22

31

.58

22

70

.49

88

30

.59

Allocation for Child Health (Rs. Crore)

BE RE

23.16 23.79 23.36

15.74

23.17 24.21

1.10 1.10 1.06 0.51 0.77 0.80

Share of Child Development (BE) in Union Budget and Within BfC (Per Cent)

Within BfC In Union Budget

Further, as announced by the Prime Minister, under the Maternity Benefit Scheme, Rs. 6,000 each

would be transferred directly to the bank accounts of pregnant women who undergo institutional

delivery and vaccinate their children. This is going to directly impact the health of children.

66.3 per cent children in the age group of 12-23 months are fully immunized4.

38.7 per cent children in the age group of 0-59 months were stunted.

More than half of the children in 10 out of 15 states are still anaemic.5

In the Union Budget 2017-18, Kalawati Saran

Children’s Hospital received 16.7 per cent

increased allocation against the previous

year.

It is critical to note here that Kalawati Saran

Children’s Hospital has been featuring in

media reports for all the wrong reasons,

though the hospital has been consistently

receiving funds from the Ministry of Health

and Family Welfare. Despite this, the

situation of children in this hospital remains

outrageous. This indicates poor utilisation of

funds as well as lack of adequate funds.

While the achievements of the National

Health Mission in reaching affordable healthcare services must be applauded, the need of universal

healthcare, both in terms of access and quality remains a cause of concern. In the Union Budget

2017-18, NRHM-RCH Flexi Pool observed a minor increase of 16 per cent from Rs. 2114.99 Crores in

2016-17 to Rs. 2454.42 Crores in 2017-18.

According to Accountability Initiative, the uncertainty in fund sharing ratios under NHM in FY 2015-

16 impacted the timing of fund flows. In FY 2014-15, 72 per cent of funds were released in the first

two quarters. This dropped to 41 per cent in FY 2015-16. In fact, 59 per cent of the release in FY

2015-16 was concentrated in the last quarter.6 This is a major concern as delayed fund flow hinders

the proper implementation of the health initiative.

Child Development The Development sector has been allocated

0.80 per cent of the total Union Budget this

year. This is only 13.32 per cent increase

against previous year’s allocation as it was

only 0.77 per cent in the 2016-17 Budget.

4 Rapid Survey on Children Report, Ministry of Women and Child Development, http://wcd.nic.in/issnip/National_Fact%20sheet_RSOC%20_02-07-2015.pdf 5 National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4) for 2015-16, Union Health Ministry 6 Accountability Initiative, Budget Briefs, Volume 9, issue 4, National Health Mission (NHM), GOI, 2016-17, http://www.accountabilityindia.in/budget/briefs/download/1604

16

43

9.3

18

38

9.6

1

18

94

0.7

2

91

13

.86

15

23

5.2

2

17

26

4.8

4

16

14

2.7

6

16

84

4.2

9

16

90

8.3

5

15

96

8.4

0

15

00

1.7

1

Allocation for Child Development (Rs. Crore)

BE RE

15

85

0

17

70

0

18

19

5

83

35

.77

14

00

0.0

0

15

24

5.1

9

15

85

0

16

31

2

16

56

1.6

15

48

3.7

7

14

37

5.6

Integrated Child Development Scheme(ICDS) (Rs. Crore)

BE RE

According to the Ministry of Women and Child Development’s Rapid Survey on Children, 29.4 per

cent children in the age group of 0-59 months have been found to be underweight7. Only 49.3 per

cent Anganwadi centres had vaccination facility available and only 37.9 per cent children in the age

group of 3-6 years are able to receive pre-school education through Anganwadi centres8.

The 2013-14 survey mentions that 49.2 per cent of children aged 6 to 35 months availed

supplementary food under the Anganwadi services. The figure was higher in rural areas (53.8 per

cent) compared to urban areas (36.7 per cent).

Only 44.2 per cent of the children aged 36-71

months and 40.7 per cent pregnant women

availed supplementary food.9 These figures

indicate towards rising nutritional needs of

children and also raise serious questions about

poor coverage of Anganwadi centres in the

country.

This year too, ICDS has not seen much increase

and received only Rs. 15245.19 Crores, which is a

mere 8.89 per cent of the total union Budget.

ICDS in its universalisation and in third phase of

expansion faces many challenges such as

inadequate availability of space for Anganwadi

Centres (AWCs), vacant posts, low focus on

growth monitoring, low focus on early childhood etc.

The Finance Minister announced that Mahila Shakti Kendras would be set up with an allocation of Rs.

500 crores in 14 lakh ICDS Anganwadi Centres. This will provide one stop convergent support services

for empowering rural women with opportunities for skill development, employment, digital literacy,

health and nutrition.

However what needs to be figured out here is that how the resources meant for children and

adolescents as part of ICDS is going to be utilized towards women’s empowerment. Are resources

going to be diverted / shared and children lose out in this process?

The National Nutrition Mission has been allocated Rs. 1100 Crores, an increase of 206 per cent from

last year’s allocation of Rs. 360 Crores.

7 http://wcd.nic.in/issnip/National_Fact%20sheet_RSOC%20_02-07-2015.pdf 8 Ibid 9 Rapid Survey on Children, 2013-14, http://wcd.nic.in/sites/default/files/RSOC%20FACT%20SHEETS%20Final.pdf

72.22 72.06 72.21 78.95

72.20 70.54

3.44 3.34 3.26 2.57 2.40 2.34

2012-2013 2013-2014 2014-2015 2015-2016 2016-2017 2017-2018

Share of Child Education (BE) in Union Budget and Within BfC (Per Cent)

Within BfC In Union Budget

Food fortification in India In January 2017, the Ministry of Women and Child Development in association with the Food Safety and

Standards Authority of India has developed a draft consultation paper on the proposed road-map for the roll

out of the fortification initiative in the country to combat micronutrient malnutrition.10 It proposes to address

iron deficiency anaemia, neural tube defects due to folate deficiency, iodine deficiency disorders, Vitamin A, D

and B12 deficiencies through fortified foods like wheat flour, oil and salt. The public funded food based

nutrition programmes like ICDS, mid day meal and public distribution system along with the open markets

would be used for supply of fortified foods.

The implementation of the promises of the National Policy for Early Childhood Care and Education

(ECCE) 2013 through the ICDS and other structures necessitates a re-look at the allocations. This

includes upgradation of crèche schemes to serve as vehicles to help young children develop

holistically. The scheme related to crèches received increased allocation of Rs. 200 Crores in 2017-18

as it was Rs. 150 Crores in 2016-17 Budget, a 33.3 per cent increase. An interesting addition was the

allocation of Rs. 0.63 crores in 2017-18 for crèche facilities for the para-military forces - CISF, ITBP

and SSB, which had no mention in the last year’s budget.

Since the survival and health of infants is closely linked to that of the mother’s heath, appropriate

allocation and spending under IGMSY and JSY as per programme commitments must be ensured.

IGMSY received a substantial increase of 575 per cent this year, (from Rs. 400 Crores in 2016-17 to

Rs. 2700 in 2017-18) which reflects on the government’s commitment towards mother and child

care.

Child Education

The total allocation for education

(elementary and secondary) is Rs.

50300.53 Crores, which has been an

increase of almost six per cent from

the previous year. Even though

education sector receives the highest

share in the Union budget (2.34 per

cent) as well as within BfC (70.54 per

cent), it remains an under resourced

area given the national and

international commitments and the

goal of spending six per cent of the

GDP on child education. The share of

education within the Union Budget as

well as the BfC has gone down from the previous year.

10 http://www.wcd.nic.in/sites/default/files/OM%20-%20Fortification%20Website1.pdf

2012-2013 2013-2014 2014-2015 2015-2016 2016-2017 2017-2018

51

26

9.7

7

55

70

4.0

4

58

54

4.4

2

45

72

5.7

0

47

47

7.0

0

50

30

0.5

3

48

15

3.2

6

53

25

2.4

3

50

09

8.8

3

45

78

1.5

2

48

11

5.0

5

Allocation for Child Education (Rs. Crore)

BE RE

2012-2013 2013-2014 2014-2015 2015-2016 2016-2017 2017-2018

25

55

5

27

25

8

27

75

8

22

00

0

22

50

0.0

0

23

50

0

23

64

5

26

60

8.0

1

24

33

0

22

01

5.4

2

22

50

0

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) (Rs. Crore)

BE RE

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan (SSA)

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is the flagship programme for universal elementary education for children in

the age group of 6-14 years, run by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD).

The total allocation for SSA is Rs.

23500.00 Crores in 2017-18, showing

an increase by 4.44 per cent (Rs.

22500 Crores in 2016-17). However

it still does not match the allocation

of Rs. 27758.00 in 2014-15, prior to

the devolution.

According to Accountability Initiative,

in the FY 2016-17 the MHRD

estimated a resource demand of Rs.

55,000 Crores, however the budget

for the year allocated was Rs. 22,500

Crores. The expenditure on SSA as a

share of total approved budgets has

been decreasing. In FY 2015-16, 70

per cent of the approved budget was spent, down from 75 per cent in FY 2014-15. Due to lack of

data on funds released by states for FY 2015-16, it is unclear whether the low expenditures are due

to a delay in fund release or because of the low absorption capacity of the states.11

As the primary vehicle for implementing the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE), with

such gaps in the total allocation and the total approved budget, one could only see the non-

implementation of this scheme in full spirit.

11 Accountability Initiative, Budget Briefs, Vol 9, Issue 2, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), GOI, 2016-17, http://www.accountabilityindia.in/budget/briefs/download/1602

0.85 0.72

0.78

1.38

1.04

1.49

0.04 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.03 0.05

2012-2013 2013-2014 2014-2015 2015-2016 2016-2017 2017-2018

Share of Child Protection (BE) in Union Budget and Within BfC (Per Cent)

Within BfC In Union Budget

The ASER survey 201612 had some interesting observations on the education scenario in the country.

At the all India level, the enrollment increased for all age groups between 2014 and 2016 in the

government schools while no change was noticed in the enrollment in private schools during this

period. The learning levels, both reading and arithmetic, had gone up in government schools. While

there was improvement in school facilities in terms of accessibility to drinking water and toilet

facilities, as well as increase in "small schools" in the government primary school sector, children's

attendance did not show major change from 2014.

Status of critical norms and facilities in schools in %

(All India Rural) 2010 2014 2016

Complying with pupil-teacher ratio norms 38.9 49.3 53

Complying with classroom-teacher ratio norms 76.2 72.8 73.5

Midday meals being served on day of visit 84.6 85.1 87

Boundary wall 51 58.8 60.4

Playground 62 65.3 64.5

Useable toilets 47.2 65.2 68.7

Useable girls’ toilets 32.9 55.7 61.9

Drinking water available 72.7 75.6 74.1

Source : ASER (Rural) 2016 http://img.asercentre.org/docs/Publications/ASER%20Reports/ASER%202016/aser_2016.pdf

Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyaan (RMSA)

RMSA, a centrally sponsored scheme launched in 2009, aimed at providing universal access to quality secondary education by 2017, removing gender, socio-economic and disability barriers.

Total allocation for RMSA for 2017-2018 is Rs. 3830 Crores. The share of allocation has increased

by 3.5 per cent (from Rs. 3700 Crores to Rs. 3830 Crores).

Interestingly during pre-budget consultation with the finance ministers of all the states, one of the

suggestions from the state representatives was the “timely release of funds for Centrally Sponsored

Schemes such as SSA and Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan.”13

Mid-day Meal (MDM)

The Mid-day meal scheme of the Ministry of Human Resource Development entitles every child within the age group of 6 to 14 years, studying in classes I to VIII, to be provided meal free of charge in schools.

Mid-day Meal Scheme observed increase of 3.09 per cent in its allocation (from Rs. 9700 Crores in 2016-2017 to Rs. 10000 Crores in 2017-2018).

Child Protection

12 ASER (Rural) 2016 http://img.asercentre.org/docs/Publications/ASER%20Reports/ASER%202016/aser_2016.pdf 13 Union Budget 2017: Arun Jaitley holds pre-budget consultations with Finance Minister of all states, India.com News Desk, updated: January 24, 2017, http://www.india.com/news/india/union-budget-2017-arun-jaitley-holds-pre-budget-consultations-with-finance-minister-of-all-states-1741088/

60

3.9

1

55

6.2

8

63

2.8

4

80

1.0

1

68

6.3

4 1

06

2.4

3

44

8.5

8

42

7.2

3

64

9.2

3

61

6.6

9

80

0.3

8

Allocation for Child Protection (Rs. Crore)

BE RE

40

0

30

0 40

0

40

2.2

3

39

7

64

8

27

3.2

27

0

45

0

40

2.2

3 5

97

.5

Integrated Child Protection Schemes (ICPS) (Rs. Crore)

BE RE

As we experienced in previous budgets, child protection sector continues to be on the periphery

with the lowest share in the total Union Budget as well as BfC. This year, child protection received

only 0.05 per cent of total allocations in the Union Budget and 1.49 per cent within BfC. Like other

sectors, this sector too remains under resourced despite an allocation of Rs. 1062.43 Crores - an

increase of 54.80 per cent.

This when the NCRB reports an increase of 5.3 per cent in crimes against children between 2014 and

2015, a total of 94,172 cases were registered in the country during 2015 as compared to 89,423

cases during 2014.14

The only scheme related to child labour in

Statement 12, the National Child Labour

Project observed an increase of 14.3 per

cent in allocation in the 2017-18 Union

Budget (Rs. 140 Crores to Rs. 160 Crores).

It must be noted that India is home to 12.6

million child labour15 in the age group of 5-

14 years. It is also commendable that after

India winning the Nobel Peace Prize, the

issue has got more attention, but the

current allocations indicate towards grave

insufficiency in order to eradicate this evil.

One of the biggest umbrella schemes to

address the needs of child protection,

Integrated Child Protection Scheme has

seen a considerable increase by 63 per cent

from the previous year’s budget - from Rs. 397 Crores in 2016-2017 to Rs. 648 Crores in 2017-18.

However, the focus needs to be on the

implementation of the scheme on the ground

and monitoring of the outcomes.

The Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) scheme,

launched in January 2015, saw a 100 per cent

increase in allocation, from Rs. 100 Crores in

14 http://ncrb.nic.in/, Crime in India 2015, Chapter 6

15 Census of India 2011

“As per the revised norms, the cost of setting up a State Child Protection Society (SCPS) in the 35 states, and a District Child Protection Unit (DCPU), a Child Welfare Committee, a Juvenile Justice Board in 675 districts, comes to INR 363.30 Crores.” Source: Translating Policy Commitments into Reality: A

Clarion call for investing in Juvenile Justice Policy and

its Administration, Bharti Ali, NLUA Law & Policy

Review, Vol. 1, No. II, 2015

2016-17 to Rs. 200 Crores in 2017-18.

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) emphasizes on the principle of

universality and inviolability of child rights and focuses on protection of all children in the 0 to 18

years age group. NCPCR has been allocated a total sum of Rs. 19 Crores in the Union Budget 2017-

18, the same as in previous year’s budget.

Conclusion

The fourth Union Budget presented by the current government does not show any remarkable

change in the financial allocations for schemes and programmes for children in the country. While

under some schemes/programmes there have been remarkable increase, it has been balanced by

the decrease in others. Overall there has been an allocation of 3.32 per cent for children, the same

as last year.

Gender Budget (Statement 13) Vs. Budget for Children (Statement 12)

Although the Union Budget 2017-18 poses itself to be a balanced budget, the elements at the core of

the child budget, are missing from the current budget. For example, one of the flagship schemes of

the Ministry of Women and Child Development (Demand No. 99), Integrated Child Development

Scheme (ICDS) does not find a mention as a separate scheme in the current Child Budget, although

the same allocations are listed under “Anganwadi Services”. The same scheme had been allocated

funds in the previous year’s child budget.

Surprisingly, Gender Budget 2017-18 features a scheme “Crime against women - Juvenile Justice and

Human Rights”, but at the same time, the child budget does not feature any scheme related to

juvenile justice, except ICPS. The statistics below illustrate how the juvenile are wrongly associated

with crimes against women:

3,27,394 crimes against women were registered under different categories.

Of these, there were 1, 50,766 cases of sexual violence against women.

41,385 juveniles were apprehended for various crimes during the same period. Of these, 5565 juveniles were apprehended for sexual crimes.

The calculations indicate that there were 0.13 juvenile per case.

Another odd scheme featuring in the Gender Budget is “Hostel renovation at Kolkata, Hyderabad -

Crime against Women, Juvenile Justice and Human Rights”. The nomenclature of this scheme

perpetuates the myth that all crimes against women are committed by juveniles. Ideally, the Gender

Budget must cover the aspect of crimes against children under the Juvenile Justice and should have

been kept separately.

Another discrepancy featuring in the Gender Budget and Child Budget is that there are few schemes

which are appearing in both the budget statements, i.e. Statement 12 and 13. However there are

different allocations reflected in both the statements. For example, under Demand No. 57, “Education

Scheme for Madrassas and Minorities” is reflected in both the Statements but with different

allocations. Same is the case with RMSA, SSA and few other programmes.

Mr. Jaitley emphasized that his budget this year was for the Dalits, Tribals, Minorities and Women.

How does he justify the cut in budgets for schemes for education for SC boys? (There is a 275%

increase for the girls’ hostel scheme for SC girls). Where will these boys go? What is their future in

the absence of hostels or scholarships? How will they stand up for India?

The political commitment towards the young citizens of this nation is yet to be translated into

allocation of financial resources towards their health, education, protection and development. What

needs to be seen is how these schemes and programmes are implemented in the next financial year.

Are our children going to benefit in terms of improvement in the quality of their health, education,

development and protection?

Overall, this budget brings some cheers and some tears...